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Now that it's starting to feel like spring again here on the northwest Florida gulf coast, I'll be continuing with my "Exploring the Gulf Coast" one tank trips blog series. My mission is to show off some of the natural wonders as well as inexpensive family outing options within an ~2 hour drive from Pensacola, FL. Over the past couple of years I've found that many of my favorite places are completely unknown to many, and I want to share them with you in hopes that you share them with generations to come.

I decided to kick things back off with a visit to a Florida State Park that's been on my personal bucket list for a couple of years - Florida Caverns State Park. So, this past Saturday, I rose before the sun and headed east with adventure and exploration in mind.

Formation of the park's caves have a history beginning about 38 million years ago when this part of the Unite States was still submerged undersea. While in the cave the tour guide will point out a nautilus, shark tooth, tube coral, shells, and fish vertebrae. The land compromising what is now the state park was acquired on October 11, 1935 with much of the development being done by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a part of President Roosevelt's New Deal. Florida Caverns State Park officially opened to the public in 1942.

"{Florida Caverns State Park} is one of the few state parks with dry (air-filled) caves and is the only state park in Florida to offer cave tours to the public. The Florida Cavern has dazzling formations of limestone stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, flow stones and draperies. The Chipola River and Blue Hole spring provide areas for fishing, canoeing and boating. Florida Caverns State Park is popular for camping, picnicking, fishing, hiking, and horseback riding."

If you follow the drive to the very back of the state park, you'll end up at the "Blue Hole" (pictured above) and Equestrian Facility. There's a large picnic area here as well as access to the 6 miles of Chipola trails which are available for use by hikers, bicyclists, and horseback riders.

Leaving Blue Hole and heading back towards the visitor's center you'll come to the next point of interest - the Chipola River Sink. Here the Chipola river heads underground for about 1/4 mile until it pops up again further downstream. During the spring and summer, kayaks and canoes are available for rental. As the pictures below show, strolling through this section of the park really felt like going back into pre-historic times.

After wandering around the Chipola sink for a bit, it was time for me to meet up with my group to head into the namesake of the park itself - the caverns!

Per www.floridastateparks.org:"Guided tours of the cave are offered year round except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Tours depart near the Visitor Center where participants learn the precautions of the tour including having to stoop many times to pass through areas with a ceiling height of 4 1/2 feet for distances as far as 15 feet in length, passages as narrow as 2 feet, and ascending steps, slippery walkways, and the importance of not touching anything inside the fragile cave environment as there are not handrails inside the cave. The cave maintains a year-round 65-degree temperature. The tour moves at a leisurely pace through a dozen cave rooms where the visitors pause for information and about the cave's history, early uses, and interesting geological formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and flowstone."

The ~1/2 mile long cave tour took a leisurely 40 minutes where our knowledgeable guide pointed out many formations and fossils as well as discussing the geological make-up of the cave itself. I had no problem traversing the narrow and low passages - though I did get a good thigh workout. After leaving the cave, your guide gives you directions for the 3 different that take you back to the visitor's center.

I chose to head back along the bluffs trail - approximately a 45 minute walk from the cave exit along the bluffs above the Chipola river. Though not a smooth walk, I had no problem picking my way over the rocks and tree roots as I made my way back to the Visitor's Center and my car.

After my final hike, I headed back to the visitor's center where I ate my picnic lunch and enjoyed the scenery. I would highly recommend Florida Caverns State Park to any and all nature lovers. The park is well designed to accommodate people of varying ages and ability. I do highly recommend bug spray as the mosquitoes were huge and unrelenting.All information shared here was obtained directly from ​www.floridastateparks.org/park/Florida-Caverns